Jody is right! Diet drinks have stuff like mannitol in them (the chemical basis for making those 'substitute' sugars. Once I gave my home health patient some of that 'sugar free' candy she loved (she was diabetic with bad wounds on her feet). Anyway her dietician blessed me out for doing it. (She was 80 plus years old and was stubborn and so I opted for going along with her 'quality vs. quantity' line of thinking. The dietician was 'right' though about the so called sugar 'free' foods/beverages. Many dieticians and related healthcare clinicians believe that they are actually worse on the body than sugar. Afterall, the body has to convert the mannitol (or other ____-ol alchohol) into sugar before it can assimilate it anyway). Requires a lot of fluids too like Jody said, to accomplish all these chemical reactions effectively.

I'm pretty sure all of the 'fake' sugars fall into this category regardless of what the name looks like. Ok, I'll stop wearing my nurse cap now and get out there and get some exercise myself.

Vanessa